A/n: Who's ready for some Mitchell-Beale angst?

Also, sorry for the wait: when life hits you square in the face, sometimes you just gotta chill for a moment. I hope for the wait to not become a regular thing, but make no promises.

Chapter Two: Children Growing Older

"Well, I've been afraid of changin'
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm getting older, too"
"Landslide" -Fleetwood Mac

Chloe was sitting at the kitchen counter listening to Emily and Brendan arguing about the people that the boy decides to hang out with and Chloe found herself mentally taking her oldest daughter's side. Both Beca and Chloe have questioned his friends since entering high school, but they figured that he can make his own decisions and learn from them. At least, that's what Beca keeps telling Chloe, telling her the horror stories of high school Beca Mitchell and how her parents thought her friends weren't the greatest of influences, but she had to learn that for herself.

"Do you even care about what hanging out with them can do to your future?" Emily asked. "They're only at MacArthur because their parents can afford to send them there, they don't care."

"What makes you think I care about what you think about my friends?" Brendan shot back. "You're friends don't exactly walk on water either."

"My friends don't choose to ditch class and get high either," Emily argued, making Chloe's eyebrows shoot up into her hairline.

"My friends don't do that," Brendan lied. "You don't know them like I do Emily. You don't see me making fun of you for dating, Swanson or hanging out with Benji. Even though both of those guys have their imperfections. Lay off."

"I'm not going to lay off," Emily said. "I saw them all in the back corner of campus cutting class, breaking uniform code, and getting high."

"Why are you lurking around in back campus anyway? You aren't a sophomore anymore." Brendan shot back.

"I was looking for you," Emily said. "I wanted us to have lunch together since we have the same lunch hour this year, like we used to."

"We haven't had lunch together since elementary school," he said. "Why does it matter now?"

"I'm worried about you," she said, almost crying.

"There's nothing for you to be worried about," Brendan said, clearly ending the conversation.

It was too quiet for Chloe's liking so she got up and went into the living room and saw Emily sitting there with her head in her hands. She knows how protective of her siblings that this girl was. She and Greyson protected Brendan and Abby more combined that Beca ever could. Chloe knew that her relationship with the girl currently in front of her wasn't great, she knew that for whatever reason the girl wasn't fond of her and was definitely a mama's girl. She debated in her head whether or not to just wait until Beca got home from the studio and tell the music producer to talk to her, but when she saw Emily's shoulders shake, she thought otherwise.

"Is everything okay in here?" Chloe said to make her presence known.

Emily looked up at her mother, she wanted to say, no. She wanted to let her mother in, but then she was reminded that part of her problems were with the redhead. She was reminded about that morning how this mother was the one that got on her about her B- in Pre-Calculus. She was reminded that this could be the reason why Brendan is being so distant, she was reminded of everything, and then she decided to say, "Everything's fine, Mom" before getting up and leaving the room.

Chloe stood there confused, she thought she had her moment, did she see something that wasn't there? Why was Emily not talking to her? Maybe she should send Beca in to see what's wrong.

The family was sitting around the table eating dinner when Greyson came running in, "I'm so sorry that I'm late." He said. "Things are crazy at work right now."

"Understandable," Beca said. "How's the campaign going?"

Greyson rolled his eyes, "It's a nightmare right now, but we'll manage." He said. "Hi Mom." He said hugging Chloe and kissing her temple.

"Hi baby," Chloe said hugging him back. "You okay? You seem tense."

"Just stressed at work." He said. "Maybe I can get a backrub after dinner?"

Chloe kissed his cheek, "Of course baby." She said. "How was your day, baby?"

Greyson sat down in his usual seat between his sisters and loosened his tie, "It was alright. Busy. How about everyone else's?" He asked dishing himself food.

Beca and the other kids mumbled out a good and Chloe actually gave him a longer answer, "It was good," she said. "Abby you wanna tell big brother what happened to you today?" She asked their youngest.

The girl's face lit up in excitement, "The middle school STEM team is going to regionals." Abby said excitedly.

Greyson's face lit up, knowing how hard she and the team worked, he watched as she stayed up late some nights trying to get the robot to do what they wanted to do and watched as she stressed out over it. He spent many nights holding her close as she cried into him, questioning on whether or not she was cut out for this. He spent many nights reassuring her that everything she was doing the right thing and that sometimes you have to get over one hurdle to get to the destination.

Greyson lifted his hand up for a high five, "Congratulations, munchkin." He said. "So proud of you." Greyson then wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulders as she cuddled into him for a hug. They stayed that way for a moment, the rest of the family focused on their food as the oldest and youngest child had their moment. When the moment was over he then turned to his other siblings and said, "So, what's new on the MacArthur Prep front, high school addition?" He asked.

Both Emily and Brendan shrugged, the two high school students still weren't talking to each other after the argument that happened earlier in the day, "Same 'ol, same 'ol." Emily responded from them both. "Too much homework assigned for multiple classes with too soon of a deadline, but we'll live."

"How's Mike doing?" Chloe asked making both her wife and oldest son roll their eyes at the name. "I know things must be hard for him right now with Jesse and Aubrey splitting up."

"Wait," Greyson said, "they're splitting up?!"

Jesse and Aubrey were Greyson's godparents and he was taken off guard with the revelation that they were splitting up. He had been in contact with them both recently, but neither one of them dropped that news on him. The man knew he was busy at work as his boss was running for the position of leader of the free world, but his godparents would tell him that they were splitting up, right? He was a little hurt that this revelation was being told to him by his mom and not by his godparents.

Chloe's face deflated a little, "I'm sorry, honey." She said. "I thought they told you already."

Greyson shook his head, "No, we've been texting in the group chat thing we set up so that I can tell them things that are going on in my life, but they never said anything." He said. The man then turned to Emily, "How is Mike doing? And Lilly, Taylor, and Felicity? Are they okay?"

Emily looked at her older brother with a confused look, she knew that this man gave her a lot of grief for dating his godbrother and she knew it was because no one would be good enough for her and normally that would annoy her, but she could imagine finding out that your godparents are getting a divorce from your mom is hard news to swallow, so she quickly softened her face, "They're as okay as they can be in the situation. I'm sure they'd love to hear from you, as much as you pretend not to like Mike, they all look up to you as an older brother figure."

Greyson nodded and took his phone out of his pocket and quickly sent a text message to all of his godsiblings:

Greyson: Hi Swanson siblings, just want you to know that I just found out about the parents. I'm SO sorry that I haven't been around to know sooner. Please know that I'm here for anything. You just have to let me know.

"I can't imagine what you must be feeling right now," Beca said with a soft voice. "What the Swanson kids are feeling."

"They've actually been better than most kids in this situation," Chloe said. "Well, at least from a headmaster standpoint."

Greyson took a deep breath and took a small bite of his food. The conversation changed to a different subject, but the communications director wasn't paying attention just thinking about his godfamily that seemed to be falling apart, and he couldn't do a damn thing about it. He started taking on unnecessary responsibility for not checking in with them when they sent random text messages with them. Not asking further questions when they said that they were just okay. His thought were then interrupted by a series of four text messages from his godbrother and godsisters.

Felicity: I mean, when my boss decides to run for President of the United States, I'll understand better, but thank you, Grey.

Lilly: We love you, godbrother. No hard feelings.

Taylor: Can we get froyo soon all five of us? Like we used to?

Mike: I second Taylor's proposition. Also, does this mean you like me again? I know I'll never be good for Em in your and Beca's eyes, but can this be a start?

Greyson: Yes! Froyo soon. And maybe Mike. ;)

Greyson smiled as he read this messages. He never disliked Mike as much as he came off as he did, but Emily and Abby were his little sisters and he gets protective of them both and relationships are a lot of give and take and he didn't trust anyone with his little sisters, but maybe he can trust Micheal Swanson.

Maybe.

Greyson was pacing back and forth in his room after dinner, he was debating on whether or not to call one of his godparents and asked them why they didn't tell him. He was hurt because the two were always so communicative with him, but somehow this big, life changing thing was happening for the Swanson family and they decide now to stop communicating? He took a deep breath and dialed his godfather's number first.

"Hey champ," Jesse said while answering.

"Hey Uncle Jesse," he said softly. "How are you?"

"I'm okay." He said softly. "How are you? How's the campaign?"

Greyson smiled at the small talk, "It's going okay, stressing me out a ton." He said.

"Well, don't let it stress you out too much." The man said. "I'd love to grab drinks soon."

"Me too," he said as silence filled the phone. "Listen, I called because I found out some interesting news about you and Aunt Aubrey this evening at dinner."

Jesse sighed, "We were GOING to tell you, I promise. Things just got too busy with all three of us." He said. "I'm really sorry."

Greyson took a soft approach, "It's really fine, unk. I promise you. May I ask what happened?" He asked. "I know things were rough..."

Jesse took a deep breath, "Yeah, things have been rough. She started shutting me out after losing Danny. And at first, I thought it was because she was grieving and then she started blaming herself for losing him, but things never got better after that."

Greyson had tears in his eyes, it had been awhile since he had heard that name. Daniel "Danny" Swanson was the fifth child of Jesse and Aubrey. He lived five short years before dying of leukemia just four years before. While the entire Swanson and Mitchell-Beale families were hurt by the loss, both Aubrey and Greyson took it the hardest - Aubrey more so than Greyson, but the pain still was there any time his name was brought up.

Greyson didn't realize the emotions in his voice until he said, "I'm sorry, Uncle Jesse." He said. "I really am."

Jesse took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, I know that hearing that name is still hard for you too." He said.

The communications director cleared his throat, "No, no. It's fine." He said. "I'm sorry. I just got really attached to him."

"Yeah," Jesse said amused. "You were his favorite too."

Greyson sighed and ran his hand roughly on his face, "Should I call Aunt Aubrey? To see how she's doing?" He asked. "I'm now really worried about her."

"I'm sure she'd love to hear from you," the man on the other line said. "She DOES miss you. I know things are busy for you right now."

"Is she still at the house or...?" He trailed off.

"No actually," he said. "She's been staying with her sister. She felt that since she's the one the asked for it, it was only fair that I didn't leave."

He nodded forgetting that his godfather couldn't see him, "Okay," he said. "I, umm, I, sorry. I literally found out through my mom at dinner tonight."

"We should've told you ourselves." He said. "I'm sorry you had to find out that way."

"It's fine," he said as Chloe came down into his room, "I'm gonna go now, I'll call Aunt Aubrey in a little bit and check on her. I just needed a moment to process it. Thanks for answering my call, Uncle Jesse."

"You know I'll always answer your call, champ." He said. "Thank you for calling. I'm serious about getting drinks soon."

"I'll text you and let you know when I'm free. I know I'm traveling with the senator soon." He said as he sat down and Chloe started rubbing his shoulders. They said their goodbyes and he hung up and took a deep breath, relaxing into his mother's touch. "That feels good, Mom. Thanks." He acknowledged her.

"Of course, baby." She said. "I'm sorry that you had to find out about your Uncle Jesse and Aunt Aubrey through me, I really thought they told you already."

"It's fine," he said. "I shouldn't be so involved in my work, y'know?"

"You love what you do," Chloe said. "I'm grateful for that."

And Chloe really was grateful because Greyson had come a long way since high school where he would lie in bed depressed all the time or think about dying. He wasn't a dramatic kid and most of the time, Chloe wouldn't notice that he was lying around all the time not saying much until the summer between his junior and senior years of high school where he was with Tom for the weekend and his depression hit an all time low and he tried to take his own life. Both she and Tom got him into therapy immediately and he seemed to work out whatever was causing his immediate depression and while he still had depressive episodes now and then, he knows how to cope with them better.

"Thanks Ma," he said. "I love you."

Chloe smiled, "I love you too, baby boy." She said pulling him into her, kissing the top of his head.

Chloe slipped into bed next to Beca that night and cuddled into her. The headmaster loved curling into the music producer at night just talking about their days. Sometimes these were the moments that were the best about Chloe's day. Her heart was definitely heavy that evening. First with the conversation she overheard between Emily and Brendan and then had with Emily and then second followed by inadvertently telling her oldest son that his godparents are divorcing. She was putting lotion on her legs when she felt Beca come up behind her, kissing her shoulder. "Hi baby," the headmaster said.

"Hi beautiful," Beca said softly. "Everything okay?" Chloe shrugged as she continued to put lotion on her legs and let out a small sigh. Beca knew what this meant and embraced her wife from behind, "What's wrong baby?" She asked softly as Chloe turned to cuddled into her. The headmaster just lied in her wife's arms for a moment, "I want to help you, love, but I can't do that if you don't tell me how."

Chloe took a shaky deep breath, "I feel like a shitty mom." She said softly, almost on the verge of crying. "I told my son about his godparents splitting up." She said as Beca played with red hair, letting her wife vent. "And our oldest daughter doesn't want to tell me stuff, but I mean, that's normal. Especially since she's a mama's girl anyway." Beca kissed the top of her wife's head, "And now I'm just trying to figure things out. There's something going on with B." Chloe sighed. "None of the kids are talking to me in the way I need them to."

Beca was playing with Chloe's hair just letting her wife vent, she knew that her wife needed to let everything out before she started talking. It's the game this couple played: Chloe would vent out what she needed to and then Beca would try to help her wife see the other side of it. It started after Tom came back into Greyson's life when the boy was nine years old. Both Chloe and Tom had two different parenting styles and she would be frustrated with her ex fiancé when it came to his very loose parenting style with their shared son. Chloe would vent, Beca would see it from Tom's point of view. At first, that would annoy Chloe because why was her wife taking her EX'S side? But, then Chloe found the value in it.

It got quiet for a moment and Beca took that as her cue to start talking, "Well, for one, you did think that Jesse and Aubrey told Greyson, so that one isn't on you. They should've told him sooner, you can't take the blame for something that isn't your fault." Beca kissed the top of her wife's head, "And two, you know, you put a lot of pressure on Emily and Brendan."

Chloe looked up at her wife, confused at what she meant, "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked defensively.

Beca took a deep breath and kissed her wife's forehead, mentally beating herself up for having it come out the way it did, "I didn't- I mean-" she stopped herself and took a deep breath, something that she had learned in therapy a few years before when she got flustered. Once she collected her thoughts, she said, "I just watch their faces when they talked about test scores and how you talked to them compared to how you talk to Abby about hers or used to talk to Greyson about his. Greyson and Abby are two of the smartest people I know when it comes to academics, but in the defense of Emily and Brendan, I don't think it's fair that you expect them to be like Greyson and Abby. We have four extremely different kids."

Chloe began thinking about how she treated all four of her kids and sighed when she realized that she did hold Emily and Brendan to Greyson and Abby's high standard. It wasn't her intention, but she knew she had a lot of work ahead of her to gain the trust back of her two middle children. "You're right." She said, feeling like a horrible mother.

Beca held Chloe close, "It doesn't make you a shitty mother either, babe. You just gotta be easier on them. Especially since, y'know, it took you three extra years to pass Russian Lit at Barden." She joked making the redhead gently hit her stomach.

The couple spent the rest of the night cuddling with each other, enjoying the other's presence. It may have been a stressful evening, but the love that these two have for each other was what calms them down into the evening.

A/n: This is the calm before the storm - it's about to get real.